Real Money

EFFINGHAM, Ill., Nov. 14, 2016 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Midland States Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:MSBI) announced today that Kevin L. Thompson has been appointed to the position of Chief Financial Officer of the holding company and the bank. Mr. Thompson succeeds Jeffrey G. Ludwig in the CFO role, which follows Mr. Ludwig's promotion to President of Midland States Bank in February 2016. Mr. Ludwig is also Executive Vice President of the holding company.

"We are very pleased to welcome Kevin Thompson to Midland," said Leon J. Holschbach, President and Chief Executive Officer of Midland States Bancorp. "Kevin possesses an impressive range of financial, strategic and analytical skills that he developed while serving in senior finance positions at large financial institutions such as Zions Bancorporation and American Express. He has extensive experience working with broadly diversified, high growth institutions, and will be an effective leader as we continue to build the Midland franchise.

"Following Jeff's promotion to President of the Bank, we conducted a broad search for a new CFO that would allow Jeff to focus more on his operational and strategic responsibilities, including heading up the recently announced Operational Excellence initiative under our Strategic Plan," said Mr. Holschbach.

Mr. Thompson said, "I am thrilled to be joining Midland and look forward to being a part of its continued growth. I have been fortunate to previously work at two other great banking organizations, and it is clear to me that Midland also has a great management and a strong corporate culture."

Kevin Thompson joins Midland from Zions Bancorporation, where he served as Senior Vice President, Corporate Finance since 2014. In this position, Mr. Thompson was responsible for financial planning and analysis, budgeting, forecasting and CCAR/DFAST stress testing. Prior to joining Zions, Mr. Thompson worked for American Express from 2006 to 2014, where he ascended to the position of Chief Financial Officer and Treasurer of American Express Centurion Bank, a $35 billion financial institution. In this role, Mr. Thompson was responsible for managing the bank's asset/liability process, interest rate risk, liquidity, reserves, budgeting, forecasting, and capital planning.